Methods for applying aluminum coating layer to a core of copper wire

ABSTRACT

Methods of applying aluminum coating layers over copper wires are disclosed. A first method may include applying aluminum powder to the surface of a rod, passing the rod through a first set of compression rolls thereby forcing the aluminum powder into a compacted preform around the rod, and heating the rod covered by the preform at 550° C. to 620° C. Further, the heated preform coated rod is passed through a second set of compression rolls thereby obtaining an aluminum coated copper rod. A second method includes disposing a copper rod inside an aluminum tube having an inner layer formed of brazing aluminum alloy, reducing the diameter of the tube&#39;s inner surface to match the copper rod, and heating the composite tube-rod such that the inner layer of the brazing alloy fuses to the rod. Another method includes passing the copper rod through a spray of metallic aluminum.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/443,1571, filed May 5, 2015, which is a National StageApplication of PCT/US2013/070097, filed on Nov. 14, 2013, which is basedupon and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/726603, filed Nov. 15, 2012, the disclosures of allof which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for applying metalliccoating layers over cores of metallic rods and wires.

2. Related Art and Background

For many practical applications, such as power transmission, it isdesirable to produce wires including a core of copper, or copper basedalloy, coated by an aluminum cladding layer. There are severalconventional methods in use for applying an aluminum cladding to acopper core for various applications.

A first method, described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,069, requires theapplication of an intermediate cladding of another metal such as silverto a copper rod by means of spraying, electroplating or wrapping withfoil. The silver clad rod is then inserted into a sleeve or tube ofaluminum alloy and the whole is then subjected to a cross sectionreduction of 30% to 40%. The resultant rod is then annealed to helpimprove the metallurgical bond between the three metals.

Further, the cross section of the rod is reduced by drawing to thedesired wire diameter. Problems with this method include the fact thatthe initial length of the rod is limited to about 25 feet. This,severely limits the length of the final product available. Moreover, thehigh cost of the silver component further inhibits the widespread use ofthis method.

Another method for applying an aluminum cladding to a copper core isdescribed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2007/0221706. In this method, aluminumcladding is applied to a copper wire by applying one or two strips ofaluminum to the surface of the copper wire and compressing the strip andwire together at high pressure in a process such as roll-forming. One ofthe drawbacks for this procedure is that it involves elaborate surfacecleaning and preparation which must be carried out on both the copperwire and the aluminum strip prior to the cladding process. Thispreparation and cleaning procedures involves heat treatment in bothoxidizing and reducing atmospheres.

The methods and apparatuses in this application overcome some of thedrawbacks and shortcomings of the conventional procedures for formingmetallic aluminum coating layers over cores of metallic copper rods andwires.

The above information disclosed in this background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background of the invention andtherefore it may contain information that does not form any part of theprior art.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide methods ofapplying aluminum coating layers over a copper core rod or wire.

Additional features of the invention will be set forth in the followingdescription, and in part will be apparent from the description, or maybe learned from practice of the invention.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a method ofapplying aluminum coating layers over a copper core rod, the methodincluding applying a controlled amount of aluminum powder to the surfaceof the rod, passing the rod through a first set of compression rollsthereby forcing the aluminum powder into a compacted preform around therod, and heating the rod covered by the preform to a temperature between550° C. and 620° C., Further, the heated preform coated rod is passedthrough a second set of compression rolls thereby obtaining an aluminumcoated copper rod.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a methodof applying aluminum coating layers over a copper core rod, the methodincluding disposing a copper rod inside an aluminum tube. The aluminumtube includes an inner layer formed of a brazing aluminum alloy. Themethod further includes reducing the diameter of the aluminum tubecontaining the copper rod until the inner diameter of the aluminum tubematches the outer diameter of the copper rod thereby obtaining acomposite tube-rod, and heating the composite tube-rod to a firsttemperature. The above process causes the inner layer of the brazingaluminum alloy to melt and fuse to the copper rod.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a methodof applying aluminum coating layers over a copper core rod, the methodincluding passing the copper rod at a predetermined speed through aspray of metallic aluminum.

The foregoing general description and the following detailed descriptionare only exemplary and explanatory and they are intended to providefurther explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the disclosedexemplary embodiments will be more apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a method of applying aluminumcoating layers over a copper core rod according to a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a method of applying aluminum coatinglayers over a copper core rod according to a first exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a method of applying aluminum coatinglayers over a copper core rod according to a second exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a method of applying aluminum coatinglayers over a copper core rod according to a third exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to gain a comprehensiveunderstanding of the methods, apparatuses and/or systems describedherein. Various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the systems,apparatuses and/or methods described herein will suggest themselves tothose of ordinary skill in the art. Descriptions of well-known functionsand structures are omitted to enhance clarity and conciseness.

Hereinafter, methods of applying aluminum coating layers over a coppercore rod are disclosed. This invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplaryembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure is thorough, and will fully convey thescope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwisedescribed, the same drawing reference numerals are understood to referto the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size anddepiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the presentdisclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. doesnot denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denotes the presence ofat least one of the referenced item.

The use of the terms “first”, “second”, and the like does not imply anyparticular order, but they are included to identify individual elements.Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. does not denote anyorder or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are usedto distinguish one element from another.

Although some features may be described with respect to individualexemplary embodiments, aspects need not be limited thereto such thatfeatures from one or more exemplary embodiments may be combinable withother features from one or more exemplary embodiments.

The aspects of the invention in this application are not limited to thedisclosed operations and sequence of operations. For instance,operations may be performed by various elements and components, may beconsolidated, may be omitted, and may be altered without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present invention.

First Exemplary Embodiment

A method of applying an aluminum coating layer over a copper core rod isdescribed in the following according to a first exemplary embodiment.

In the first exemplary embodiment a copper rod and an aluminum tube areprovided. The copper rod may be introduced into the core of the aluminumtube. The inner diameter of the aluminum tube may be significantlylarger than the diameter of the rod disposed inside the tube. The innerdiameter of the aluminum tube may be between 2 to 3 times larger thanthe diameter of the copper rod.

An aluminum alloy strip may be used to form the aluminum tube. Thealuminum alloy strip used may comprise a composite of an alloy, such asAA3003 or AA1100 or similar. The aluminum alloy strip may comprise on aside a low melting point brazing alloy such as AA4104, AA4047 orsimilar. The aluminum strip may have a thickness between 0.50 mm to 1.0mm. The low melting point brazing alloy may be disposed only on one sideof the strip. The melting temperature of the brazing alloy may be 1080°F. to 1100° F. The aluminum tube may be formed from the aluminum stripby a process such as roll forming. The aluminum tube is formed such thatthe low melting point brazing alloy is on the inside of the roll formedtube. The invention is not limited by the size of the aluminum strip orthe particular process used to form the aluminum tube. For example,aluminum strips of various may be used and various other procedures maybe used to form the aluminum tube. Various combination and dimensions ofcore alloys and brazing alloys may be used.

After roll-forming the aluminum strip into a tube, the seam of the rollformed tube may be welded. An inert gas, such as Nitrogen, may beintroduced into the tube at the point of weld closure to minimize oxygenpresence,

The composite rod-in-tube (assembly formed by the rod and tube, wherethe rod is disposed inside the tube) is then reduced in cross section.The reducing in cross section of the composite rod-in-tube may beperformed by means such as drawing through conventional drawing dies orpassing through further roll forming reduction. The cross section of thecomposite rod-in-tube is reduced to the point where the outer aluminumtube is tightly compressed onto the inner copper core.

At this point the completed cable length may be subjected to a heatingcycle sufficient to induce the brazing alloy layer to melt and produce ametallurgical bond between the copper core and the outer aluminum alloytube.

A suitable flux coating may be applied to the copper core before thecopper core is fed into the aluminum tube. The amount of flux appliedmay be very small. The flux applied may have minimal or no residue. Aflux such as “Nocolok” (N.B Alcan Trade mark name) which has minimal orno residue would be suitable. The invention is not limited by thepresence of the flux coating step or by the position of the welding stepin the processing sequence. The flux coating step may be performed atvarious stages during processing or may be omitted altogether.

The resultant composite rod may then be reduced to the final requiredsize by conventional drawing processes or other processes. The aluminumclad copper rod may be formed on a continuous roll forming machine whichincorporates a continuous seam weld for sealing the aluminum tube. Theinvention is not limited to the particular procedure used to performreducing of the copper rod to the desired dimensions, to the weldingprocedures, or the procedures used to form the aluminum tube. Forexample, various other procedures may be used to reduce the size of thealuminum clad copper rod to the desired dimensions, to form the aluminumtube, or to perform welding.

The method of applying an aluminum coating layer over a copper core rodaccording to the first exemplary embodiment makes possible theeconomically efficient manufacturing of very long aluminum clad copperwires for which a firm metallurgical bond is produced between the copperrod and the aluminum, cladding layer. The length of the wires ispractically limited only by the availability of the desired length ofcopper rod on reels to be paid off into the roll forming operation andthe ability to physically handle the reel size of the completedcomposite, bearing in mind that this reel must be accommodated in aheating oven at approximately 1100° F. Moreover, according to the firstexemplary embodiment it is possible to manufacture good quality aluminumclad copper wires without the need for expensive intermediate metalapplication. Thus, this method presents clear advantages over theconventional methods, such as the method described in the U.S. Pat. No.2,947,069, which necessitates the application of an expensive silverintermediate layer between the aluminum and copper and which severelylimits the length of the initial wire manufactured. Further, this methodpresents clear advantages over the conventional method described in thein U.S. Pat. Pub. 2007/0221706 which involves treatment in bothoxidizing and reducing atmosphere.

The above process and method of applying an aluminum coating layer overa copper core rod may be carried out in a continuous process on amanufacturing line. Such a process is described hereinafter withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and may include the following steps,

FIG. 1(a) shows a cross section of an aluminum strip 10 which isprovided in a first step of the method (s101 in FIG. 2). The strip maybe about 0.050″ thick and about 2.43″ wide. The aluminum strip may be aclad product with the tore 12 being formed of a first alloy (typicallyan alloy such as AA3003) and a clad layer 11, formed of a second alloy,disposed on one side of the strip 10. The clad layer 11 may be formed ofa lower melting point alloy such as AA4104 to a thickness of 10%+/−1% ofthe total strip thickness (i.e. 9%-11% of the overall strip thickness).

The strip 10 is formed into a tube 14, as shown in FIG. 1(b), by aprocess such as progressive roll forming (s103 in FIG. 2). The strip 10is presented to the roll forming mill such that the clad side 11 isformed to be the inside of the tube. The formed tube 14 may have anouter diameter of about 0.80″.

A copper rod 15 is introduced into the formed tube 14 by being paid offfrom a reel under controlled tension at a point where the openingbetween the edges of the semi-formed tube is wide enough to accept thecopper rod (s104 in FIG. 2). The copper rod 15 may have a diameter ofabout 0.3″.

The edges of the roil formed tube are then brought together at the endof the roll forming process and the joint 13 is welded by means of acontinuous tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process (s105 in FIG. 2).The TIG weld is configured to give minimal weld projection into theinside of the formed tube 14.

In the same continuous process, the aluminum tube 14 containing thecopper rod. 15 may be conveyed through a series of drawing dies. Thedrawing dies are compressing the tube around the rod, as shown in FIG.1(c), and are reducing the outer diameter of the aluminum tube 14, asshown in FIG. 1(d), until the inner diameter of the aluminum tube 14matches the outer diameter of the copper rod 15 (s106 in FIG. 2). Thecopper rod 15 is then firmly disposed inside the aluminum tube 14 forthe entire continuous length of the manufactured product as shown inFIG. 1(d). Alternatively, the desired reduction in tube diameter can beachieved by utilizing a series of forming rolls to progressively reducethe tube diameter until the inner diameter of the tube is equal to thediameter of the copper rod inside. The obtained composite copperrod-aluminum tube 16, as shown in FIG. 1(d), may then be coiled onto asteel reel until the desired length is reached (s107 in FIG. 2).

The composite copper rod-aluminum tube 16, as shown in FIG. 1(d), maythen be heated in inert atmosphere, such as Nitrogen, in a suitable ovento a temperature suitable to cause the inner layer of the brazing alloy11 to melt and fuse to the copper rod 15 (s108 in FIG. 2). Thetemperature may be about 1100° F. The brazing alloy 11 may be a AA4104alloy. The composite copper rod-aluminum tube is held at the suitabletemperature for sufficient time for the aluminum alloy to fuse to thecopper rod and to form a good metallurgical bond, as shown by 18 in FIG.1(e), between the copper rod 15 and aluminum clad 14, thereby obtainingan aluminum clad copper rod 17 as shown in FIG. 1(e).

The aluminum clad copper rod 17 may then be drawn down to required wirediameters by conventional wire drawing processes (s109 in FIG. 2).

Additional steps may be added to the above manufacturing process. Forinstance, a non-corrosive flux may be added to the surface of thealuminum strip which is clad with the brazing alloy (s102 in FIG. 2).The addition of the flux may allow the use of alternative brazingalloys, other than the AA4104 alloy, such as AA4043 and AA4045 alloys.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

A method of applying an aluminum coating layer over a copper core rod isdescribed in the following according to a second exemplary embodiment.

In a first step a copper rod is provided. The copper rod may be in ahard drawn state or a fully annealed state. The copper rod may be paidoff from a payoff with controlled back tension. The copper rod may bethen passed through a straightening station to provide a straight,smooth running product for the remaining process.

In another step, the copper rod may be passed through a surface cleaningprocess such as grit-blasting. The rod may be cleaned by the applicationof steel grit blast granules from high pressure nozzles. The amount ofblast grit and the pressure of blast grit may be adjusted such as toavoid abrasion of the copper rod.

After the cleaning process, a finely divided aluminum powder may beapplied to the surface of the copper rod. The aluminum powder should beof high purity (>99% Aluminum). The aluminum powder may have a gain sizebetween 100 microns and 600 microns Preferably should have a grain sizebetween 150 microns and 200 microns. The melting point for such a powdermay be 665° F.+/−5° F. The application of the aluminum powder may beperformed by passing the rod through the axis of a screw feeder whichapplies a controlled amount of finely divided aluminum powder to thesurface of the rod. On a production line the application of the aluminumpowder may take place immediately before the “nip” point of a set offour compression rolls. The compression rolls may be contoured to matchthe rod diameter and may be positioned at 90 degrees to each otheraround the circumference of the rod,

The aluminum powder may be further compacted on the rod's surface. Thecompacting may be performed by high pressure rolls or in other ways. Thecompression rolls may force the aluminum powder into a dense, compactedpreform around the rod, completely covering the rod surface with acontrolled depth of compressed powder. The depth of the compressedpowder may be, typically, between 0.50 to 0.75 mm.

The “green rod” (i.e. the rod and covering preform) may be rapidlyheated to a high temperature in the range 500° C. to 640° C. preferablyin the range 580° C. to 620° C. The heating may be performed by aninduction coil or other means. For example, the rod and covering preformmay be passed through an induction heater which heats the surface of thepreform coated rod to a temperature between 500° C. and 620° C. at arate of between 50 and 100° C. per second. The heating has the effectthat a metallurgical bond is formed between the aluminum clad and thecopper rod. The invention is not limited to the particular procedure orapparatus used to heat the coil, to the particular dimensions of the rodand preform, or to the particular apparatus used to create the aluminumpowder preform. For example, various other procedures may be used toheat the preform coated rod and to create the powder preform.

The aluminum clad rod may be further compacted by high pressure rollsand/or dies thereby enhancing the bond between the aluminum and copper.For instance, upon exiting the induction heating section, the heatedpreform coated rod may be passed through a second set of fourcompression rolls. The second set of rolls are contoured to fit the roddiameter and may be set at 90 degrees to each other. The second set ofcompression rolls may be offset by 45 degrees from the first set ofcompression rolls. Thereby pressure is applied over the entirecircumference of the rod during the pass through the two sets ofcompression rolls. Tension in the rod may be maintained by passing therod over a capstan. The invention is not limited by the particularprocedure or apparatus used to compact the aluminum clad copper rod.Various other procedures for compacting the aluminum clad copper rod maybe used.

The resulting clad rod may be reduced in diameter to a desired size byconventional wire drawing processes. For instance, the resulting cladrod may be cooled and drawn to a desired size by means of drawingthrough dies.

Annealing may be performed such as to facilitate reducing the size ofthe wires at any necessary point in the wire drawing process. The abovemethod of cladding aluminum on copper wire makes possible the efficientmanufacturing of very long aluminum clad copper wires. The above methodhas a further advantage that there is no “off line” heat treatmentprocesses involved.

The above process and method of applying an aluminum coating layer overa copper core rod may be carried out on a continuous powder cladding andsintering line and may include, as described with reference to FIG. 3,the following steps.

In a first step, a copper rod may be paid off from a payoff withcontrolled back tension (s201). The rod may be further passed through astraightening station to provide a straight, smooth running product forthe remaining process (s201 in FIG. 3). The rod may then be cleaned bythe application of steel grit blast granules from high pressure nozzles(s202 in FIG. 3). The amount of blast grit and the pressure of the blastgrit may be adjusted such as to avoid abrasion of the copper rod.

The rod may then be passed through the axis of a screw feeder whichapplies a controlled amount of finely divided aluminum powder to thesurface of the rod (s203 in FIG. 3). The application of the aluminumpowder takes place immediately before the “nip” point of a first set offour compression rolls. The compression rolls in the first set arecontoured to match the rod diameter and are positioned at 90 degrees toeach other around the circumference of the rod. These compression rollsforce the aluminum powder into a dense, compacted preform around therod, completely covering the rod surface with a controlled depth ofcompressed powder (s204 in FIG. 3).

The rod and covering preform may then be passed through an inductionheater which heats the surface of the preform coated rod to atemperature between 550° C. and 620° C. (s205 in FIG. 3). Upon exitingthe induction heating section, the heated preform coated rod is passedthrough a second set of four compression rolls (s206 in FIG. 3). Likethe first set of compression rolls, the second set of compression rollsare contoured to fit the rod diameter and are set at 90 degrees to eachother. The second set of compression rolls are offset by 45 degrees fromthe first set of compression roils thereby pressure is applied over theentire circumference during the pass through the two sets of compressionrolls. The invention is not limited by the particular arrangement of thecompression rolls. Various arrangements of the compression rolls may beemployed.

Tension is maintained by passing the rod over a capstan before finalre-spooling of the finished, clad rod (s207 in FIG. 3). The clad rod maythen be reduced in diameter to the required size by conventional wiredrawing processes (s209 in FIG. 3).

Third Exemplary Embodiment

A method of applying an aluminum coating layer over a copper core rod isdescribed in the following, with reference to FIG. 4, according to athird exemplary embodiment.

The method includes depositing of a coating of aluminum alloy onto amoving copper rod. The depositing may include a thermal metal spraydeposition process. The depositing of the aluminum alloy onto the movingcopper rod may be performed in a continuous manner. One or more sprayguns may be used to perform the deposition process.

The thermal spray deposition process may include generating an arc or aplasma which may cause the rapid melting and atomization of a suitablealuminum alloy feed wire. Subsequently, this atomized spray of moltenaluminum is directed towards the copper rod and deposited onto thecopper rod core. Thereby a layer of aluminum is formed on the surface ofthe copper rod. This layer can be adjusted to the desired thickness bymeans of the adjustments to the processes described in the following twoparagraphs and is typically be in the range of 1% to 10% of the copperrod diameter.

The amount of aluminum deposited on the copper core may depend on thedesign of the spray guns, functional parameters of the spray guns,number of the spray guns and position of the spray guns with respect tothe copper core. The amount of aluminum deposited on the copper core mayfurther depend on the speed of the copper core with respect to the sprayguns.

Accordingly, the design of the spray guns, the functional parameters ofthe spray guns, the number of the spray guns, the position of the sprayguns with respect to the copper core, and the speed of the copper corewith respect to the spray guns may be adjusted such as to obtain adeposited aluminum clad layer having the desired parameters. Theparameters of the aluminum clad layer deposited on the copper core maybe adjusted such as to obtain the design requirement of the aluminumclad copper wire product. The parameters of the aluminum clad copper rodthat may be adjusted by the aforementioned process (i.e. adjustingcharacteristics of the spray guns and the speed of the copper rod) mayinclude a thickness of the aluminum clad layer, an amount of aluminumdeposited per unit length of copper core, a metallic bond strengthbetween the aluminum clad layer and the copper core and others.

After aluminum clad layer is deposited on the copper rod, a conventionaldrawing process may be performed on the aluminum clad copper rod such asto reduce its cross section to the desired or required dimensions.

The method of cladding an aluminum layer on copper wire, according tothe third exemplary embodiment, makes possible the economical andefficient manufacturing of very long aluminum clad copper wires. Theabove method has a further advantage that the need for expensivepre-cleaning and surface preparation is eliminated or minimized.

The above process and method of applying an aluminum coating layer overa copper core rod, according to the third exemplary embodiment of theinvention, may be carried out in a continuous process on a manufacturingline and, as described with reference to FIG. 4, may include thefollowing steps.

A copper rod having a diameter of approximately 0.30″ is provided. Thecopper rod may be cleaned and subjected to surface grit blasting inorder to ensure that the surface of the rod is both clean and receptiveto the application of atomized aluminum spray (s301 in FIG. 4).

A system of spray applicators for spraying atomized aluminum isprovided. The atomized aluminum is produced by the atomization ofaluminum wire in a plasma spray applicator, an arc spray applicator or asimilar metal spray applicator.

The aluminum cladding is applied on the copper rod by passing the copperrod in a continuous process at a predetermined speed through the sprayof metallic aluminum produced by the system of spray applicators (s302in FIG. 4).

The system of spray applicators may include several spray applicatorsthat may be arranged in series such that all the surface area of thecopper rod is subject to spraying during its passage through the sprayzone.

The number of the spray applicators, the deposition rate correspondingto each applicator and the arrangement of the spray applicators may bematched to the speed of the rod passing through the spray “zone” inorder to achieve the desired deposit thickness of aluminum onto thecopper rod.

The obtained aluminum clad copper rod is cooled to the desiredtemperature (s303 in FIG. 4). Then the aluminum clad copper rod iscoiled by means of a suitable rewind device (s304 in FIG. 4). Further,the aluminum clad copper rod is reduced to the desired or requireddiameter by conventional wire drawing processes (s305 in FIG. 4).

The methods disclosed in this application have important advantages overthe state of the art and conventional methods of manufacturing copperwires coated by an aluminum coating layer.

For example, by employing the methods described in this application itis possible. to efficiently manufacture a final product of aluminum cladcopper wire having very long lengths The length of the wires ispractically limited only by the capacity of the payoff reels for thecopper rod and the take up reels for the finished composite product. Forwhich a firm metallurgical bond is produced between the copper rod andthe aluminum cladding layer. The manufacturing processes involved in themethods according to the first and third exemplary embodiments may beperformed in a continuous way and in one location. The manufacturingprocesses and steps involved in the method according to the secondexemplary embodiment may be performed in a continuous way and in onelocation with the exception of the brazing step/process which mayinvolve a separate furnace operation.

Moreover, the methods disclosed in this application do not involve theuse of expensive intermediate materials such as silver. Thus, thesemethods present clear advantages over the method described in the U.S.Pat. No. 2,947,069 which necessitates the application of an expensivesilver intermediate layer between the aluminum and copper and whichseverely limits the length of the initial wire length manufactured.

Further, the heating cycles used are simpler than in other conventionalmethods, such as the ones described in the in U.S. Pat. Pub.2007/0221706, which involve furnace cycles taking place in bothoxidizing and reducing atmosphere. The methods disclosed in thisapplication employ at most a single conventional heating cycle.

While the exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in formand details may be made thereto without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

In addition, many modifications can be made to adapt a particularsituation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure withoutdeparting from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intendedthat the present disclosure not be limited to the particular exemplaryembodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out thepresent disclosure, but that the present disclosure will include allembodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of applying aluminum coating layers overa copper core rod, the method comprising: applying a controlled amountof aluminum powder to the surface of the rod; passing the rod through afirst set of compression rolls thereby forcing the aluminum powder intoa compacted preform around the rod; heating the rod covered by thepreform to a temperature between 550° C. and 620° C.; and passing theheated preform coated rod through a second set of compression rollsthereby obtaining an aluminum coated copper rod.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising: reducing the diameter of the aluminum coatedcopper rod to a desired size by a wire drawing process.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: the first set of compression rolls comprise fourcompression rolls each contoured to match the rod diameter andpositioned at 90 degrees to each other around the circumference of therod; the second set of compression rolls comprise four compression rollseach contoured to match the rod diameter and positioned at 90 degrees toeach other around the circumference of the rod; and the second set ofcompression rolls are offset by an angle of about 45 degrees from thefirst set of compression roles.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps: prior to applying the aluminum powder to thesurface of the rod, cleaning the copper core rod by applying steel gritblast granules.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the applying of steelgrit blast granules is performed such that the copper rod is not abradedby the grit blast granules.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theheating is performed by passing the rod covered by the preform throughan induction heater.